New York City has a housing problem: Real estate is too expensive, and there's not enough of it. The city is betting on solutions like My Micro NY, which is building prefabricated units that are 250-350 square feet.

The housing crunch in San Francisco isn't just forcing out lower income renters, it's forcing out Fido, too. The animal welfare nonprofit SF SPCA says there's been a surge in owners abandoning their pets.

Buying a home used to mean hiring a licensed real estate agent and visiting place after place, until you found the one you liked. These days, thanks to the Internet, buyers can browse real estate listings whenever and wherever they want. But even wit...